Gancaonin N from Glycyrrhiza uralensis Attenuates the Inflammatory Response by Downregulating the NF-κB/MAPK Pathway on an Acute Pneumonia In Vitro Model.

Hyun Min Ko,Wona Jee,Kwan-Il Kim,Ji Hoon Jung,Seung-Hyeon Lee,Hee-Jae Jung,Hyeung-Jin Jang

doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics13071028

Abstract

Acute pneumonia is an inflammatory disease caused by several pathogens, with symptoms such as fever and chest pain, to which children are particularly vulnerable. Gancaonin N is a prenylated isoflavone of Glycyrrhiza uralensis that has been used in the treatment of various diseases in oriental medicine. There are little data on the anti-inflammatory efficacy of Gancaonin N, and its effects and mechanisms on acute pneumonia are unknown. Therefore, this study was conducted as a preliminary analysis of the anti-inflammatory effect of Gancaonin N in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells, and to identify its preventive effect on the lung inflammatory response and the molecular mechanisms underlying it. In this study, Gancaonin N inhibited the production of NO and PGE2 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells and significantly reduced the expression of iNOS and COX-2 proteins at non-cytotoxic concentrations. In addition, in LPS-induced A549 cells, Gancaonin N significantly reduced the expression of COX-2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. Moreover, Gancaonin N reduced MAPK signaling pathway phosphorylation and NF-κB nuclear translocation. Therefore, Gancaonin N relieved the inflammatory response by inactivating the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways; thus, it is a potential natural anti-inflammatory agent that can be used in the treatment of acute pneumonia.

Highlights

Pneumonia, a lower respiratory tract infection disease, is an inflammatory disease caused by pathogens, such as various bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other factors [1,2,3]
N, A549 the researchers used an MTT assay for evaluating the cytotoxicity of Gancaonin N in RAW264.7 and cells
Many studies suggested that secondary metabolites such as polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, studies suggested that metabolites as polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenoids have thesecondary ability to prevent and such treat inflammatory responses induced in and terpenoids have the ability to prevent and treat inflammatory responses induced in the lungs

Summary

Introduction

A lower respiratory tract infection disease, is an inflammatory disease caused by pathogens, such as various bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other factors [1,2,3]. Despite the advances in antibacterial therapy and improvement in supportive therapy, it is a major infectious disease that is common in all age groups [6]. It is one of the main causes of death in the United States and has a fatal effect on children in developing countries [7]. Acute pneumonia is a major cause of mortality and disease rates in children under the age of 5, and it has been reported that 1.1 million to 1.4 million children are diagnosed with pneumonia every year [8,9,10].

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